Cracking Under Pressure
by snapple79
Summary: AU version of 4x01 when Andy turns to Sam for help when Nick snaps while they're undercover.


This one-shot popped into my head when I had insomnia the other night. No idea where it came from. lol It's Sam/Andy focused, but Nick does appear. And before anyone complains about how Nick is portrayed here, let me remind everyone that there are numerous fics that have Luke as a bad guy, an abusive boyfriend, a dirty cop, etc. This is no different than those.

With all that said, I hope you'll leave a review to let me know what you think. :) Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Rookie Blue.

* * *

**Cracking Under Pressure**

Andy and Nick were standing in a warehouse with Von and his men, and she was terrified. Blackstone's fantastic idea had put them at risk. Nick looked like a deer in headlights, not knowing what to do when Von accused them of double-crossing him. It didn't help when Nick started contradicting her about what she did and didn't know about the operation. She wished Sam was here with her; he would get them out of this safely.

He always told her that you could talk your way out of 98 percent of bad situations, so that's what she was going to try to do. "We didn't do anything! We don't know how Steve McCowan found out where you were bringing drugs in," Andy said frantically.

"Be honest, Nick," Von said, while his men pointed guns at the two of them. "You've been loyal up until now. Don't lie for this tramp."

Andy's eyes went wide. Von didn't think _they_ were responsible for double-crossing him; he thought it was _her_.

Nick swallowed a lump in his throat. He didn't know what to do; he was a fish out of water here. He could shoot a gun, he could usually win a fight, but talking his way out of situation was not his forte. He couldn't overpower all the men in the room, so he tried to think quickly. Maybe, just maybe if he gave in to what Von wanted to hear he could save himself. If they didn't kill him and he got away, maybe he'd be able to find a way to save Andy later.

His silence worried Andy. "He's not gonna say that. He knows I didn't do anything. Tell him, Nick. Tell him neither of us betrayed him."

Von looked calmly at Nick, knowing he had him right where he wanted him. "It's her or it's both of you," he said. "You're choice."

"Andy...Look at me," Nick said, trying to get her eyes to meet his so she'd understand. "I'm sorry."

"You're sorry? What do you mean? Don't Nick, don't!" She realized by the tone in his voice she no longer had a partner who would have her back and she was terrified.

"She's the leak," Nick blurted out as Andy looked at him, her wide eyes filled with tears. "I thought I could take care of it."

"He's lying!" Andy screamed. "I don't know what you're talking about. I don't know anything." The butt of a gun collided with her skull and she blacked out, collapsing to the floor.

Nick didn't react. He'd do anything to get out of there alive. Anything.

Von stared at him, impressed when he didn't so much as flinch as the brunette went down. "Prove your loyalty."

"I didn't double cross you, man. I figured out what she did last night. I didn't know what to do. I'm sorry," Nick pleaded as he played along. He didn't want to know how Von wanted him to prove his loyalty; he just wanted the guy to believe him so they could get out of there.

"You're going to torture her. You and Adam will torture her until she gives up the info or dies, whichever comes first. You do this and you're in for good," Von said. "Your loyalty won't be questioned again."

* * *

When Andy came too, she was still lying on the cold cement floor. Her head was pounding, so when she opened her eyes, the bright lights of the room only made it worse. Through squinted eyes, she saw Nick moving a chair into the center of the room and Adam untangling some rope.

She knew she had to get out of there before they tied her to the chair, so she didn't hesitate. Jumping up, she started running for the door. When Nick stepped in front of her, she punched him in the eye where he already had a bruise, and the pain sent him collapsing to his knees. She kicked the other guy in the stomach, sending him flying back against the wall and she took off.

She ran through the unfamiliar warehouse trying to find an exit, but she found the place was like a maze. Every corner she turned was a dead end. She finally found a small office that was open and she ran in and shut the door. Out of breath, she slid down the wall and looked at her surroundings.

Seeing a phone attached to the wall, she reached up and instinctively dialed the number of the one partner she could _always_ count on to have her back.

"Yeah?" the gruff voice on the other end answered.

"Sam?"

"McNally?"

"Yeah, it's me."

"Where are you?"

She breathed a sigh of relief hearing his voice. "I need help, Sam. I don't know what happened. I mean, Nick - "

"McNally," he interrupted. "_Where_ are you?"

"Oh, uh, I'm, uh...I don't know, it just looks like some, uh, trucking warehouse. Um, there's a logo I saw on one of the trucks. It said BTI inside of a red circle," she said, trying to remember any details that would help Sam find her.

"Sit tight, okay. I'll find you," he told her, trying to calm the nerves he could hear in her voice.

"Please Sam. I don't have much time." Andy could hear Nick and Adam banging down doors and shouting her name as they searched for her. "I gotta go."

She dropped the phone and it swung against the wall as Sam yelled "McNally! McNally!" before hanging up and jumping in his car.

Andy thought she'd found a safe spot in the back of a truck, but she held her breath as voices came closer. When the large truck door was pulled up and she had nowhere to go, she tried fighting, but two against one was a losing battle. Nick soon had her arms behind her back trying to hold her still. She thought she heard him whisper 'trust me' before Adam punched her hard in the stomach.

She coughed and gasped for air as the wind was knocked out of her. She tried to lean back against Nick so she could kick at Adam, but he was too quick for her and was again knocked unconscious by the butt of a gun.

This time she found herself woken up by smelling salts and jolted at the sudden alertness rushing through her head at the smell. Nick was staring her straight in the face and she could only look at him with disgust. She wondered if he had truly been turned by Von and his guys or if he was simply stupid. Either way, he was participating in this nightmare she was going through and she would never forgive him.

She tugged on her arms and found they were tied securely to the chair she was in, along with her legs. She found herself back in the room they'd initially been in and Adam had been replaced by Von.

Her head was pounding and now that the instantaneous reaction to the smelling salts was wearing off, she found it hard to focus through the fog clouding her mind.

"C'mon Nick, you gotta do this. Alright, let's go," Von ordered. "Nick, come on. Nick, do it. NICK!"

"Shut up!" Nick snapped, flipping his head from Andy to Von. "Just shut up, alright. Okay. I'm doing it."

"Please," she begged. "Please, don't do this, Nick."

_Trust me_, he mouthed to Andy as tears streaked down her cheeks. But she couldn't trust him with the way he was acting. She couldn't figure out what was going on in his mind and it terrified her. She closed her eyes, wishing Sam to find her, so she didn't see the first punch coming directly to her abdomen. She yelped in pain and opened her eyes in time to see his fist come at her again.

The fear that had been rushing through Nick's blood was suddenly replaced by rage and he had no control over it. He no longer saw Andy sitting in front of him. He was back in Afghanistan, fighting for his life by torturing the enemy for information.

After several more punches, Nick took a step back and Von came to stand beside him. "Tell us who you're working for and what you told them," Von demanded.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I didn't tell anyone anything," she said.

Von moved behind her and yanked her head back by her hair hard enough that Andy thought he was going to pull it right from her scalp. "Tell us what we want to know and you _might_ get to keep your life," he said.

"I don't know anything," she cried out.

Von took over, sending several punches to her face and Andy now tasted blood from a split lip. They took turns punching and slapping her, at times hitting bruises already starting to form. The pain was overtaking her senses and the next time Von demanded she give him information, she couldn't form a thought coherent enough to talk herself out of the situation. When she remained silent, he kicked her side so hard, the chair toppled onto its side and Andy was sure she'd broken something in her arm.

"Man, maybe…Look at her man, maybe this is enough," Nick said.

"Enough? Enough? It's not enough until she breaks. I want to know who else she told about our operation," Von replied, kicking Andy again in the stomach, causing her to spit up blood.

"I don't think she's going to," Nick said.

"Then we kill her," Von said calmly.

Andy wasn't sure if the men were now silent or she just stopped hearing their voices. The pain was unbearable and it even hurt to breath. She was going in and out of consciousness by this point, but after several minutes she was sure she heard the click of the safety of a gun. Tears that had stopped, started flowing again. She wasn't ready to die, but she had no fight left in her. She opened her mouth to try to speak - one last pleading to not kill her - but no sound came out.

"One to the head, that's all it'll take," Von said, before she felt the cold metal butt of a gun against her temple.

She couldn't control the sobs as she realized she'd never see her dad again, never see her friends, never see Sam. Sam, the man she loved more than anyone. They'd never have their second chance. It wasn't that her life flashed before her eyes, but rather the future she'd never have.

She was surprised when she heard a gunshot, but felt no pain. Then she heard Sam's voice shouting. Relief washed over her; he'd found her. She pried her eyes open and saw Nick lying lifeless on the floor next to her, blood pooling beneath him.

Sam had done the only thing he could when he burst into the room and saw Andy's bruised and battered body, and Nick holding a gun to her head. He shot him square in the chest. With other officers dealing with Von, Sam ran over to Andy, collapsing to his knees. "Officer down, we need a bus to this location. I repeat officer down," he yelled into his radio.

"McNally...Andy, can you hear me?" he asked, brushing hair out of her face.

Everything was hazy, and when she opened her mouth nothing came out. Sam didn't wait for a response before he quickly got to work untying her hands and legs. He cringed at the moans she let out as he freed her from the restraints.

"Sam..." she breathed out so softly he almost didn't hear her. "You...you found...me."

"Always." When he tried to move her she yelped in pain before going limp in his arms. "Where is that damn bus?" he yelled at no one in particular as he cradled her in his arms.

He cursed himself for not getting to her sooner, thinking maybe he could have prevented this. Her face was a rainbow of colors from the bruises and blood was smeared across her pale skin. Her shirt was torn down the front giving him a view of bruises forming on her chest.

He cradled her against his chest, trying to keep her warm while he waited for the paramedics. He could tell her breathing was shallow and labored, but at least she was breathing. Sam closed his eyes, holding her tight against him as he held back tears.

* * *

The next time Andy woke up, her one arm was immobilized in a large cast and her free hand was being held tight. Blinking the grogginess away, her eyes found the man who was slouched uncomfortably in the chair next to her bed, and who had never left her side. She squeezed his hand and his eyes flew open. "Andy!"

She licked her lips as she opened her mouth and tried to speak, but her throat was too dry for words to come out. Sam immediately brought a cup filled with water to her mouth and she sipped it through a straw.

"Hi," she finally said.

Her brushed hair off her cheek and tucked it behind her ear. "How are you feeling?"

"Numb, I don't feel much of anything right now," she said, looking curiously down her body trying to figure out all her injuries. She remembered what happened and knew her broken arm was probably only the beginning of it.

She tried to shift around on the bed and the numbness turned to shooting pain.

"You have cracked and bruised ribs, so you might not want to try to move for a while," he said, seeing her face distort in pain. "Do you remember what happened?"

She nodded and tears filled her eyes. "I know what happened, but I don't know _why_. He just...he was a different person."

"You're okay now. Von and his men are in jail, and Collins...my shot killed him, Andy. I'm sorry, I know you were friends," he said.

"He had a gun to my head. If you hadn't killed him, I believe he would have killed me. Friends went out the window the moment he repeatedly punched me," she told him.

"You wanna talk about it?" he asked.

Andy pressed her lips together briefly, before the pain reminded her of her split and swollen lip. "They thought we gave info to Steve McCowan. But then they believed Nick was still loyal to them and assumed _I _was the rat. He froze and then..." She let out a shaky breath and Sam rubbed his thumb over her knuckles to help soothe her. "At some point he snapped. He wasn't the Nick I knew."

"Six months undercover can change someone. Especially a rookie whose only previous undercover work was pretending to be on a date with you," he said, referring to the night they were watching Gail at the hotel. "Some people crack under pressure."

"I don't think I wanted to see it, but I think he started to lose himself before yesterday," she said.

"And you didn't?"

"I kept a journal, bought a plant, so I didn't stop caring about things. I did what I taught," she said, giving him a small smile.

Sam stuck his tongue in his cheek at her admission. She'd always been one to ask him about his undercover work; how did he do this, why did he do that. He could never be more relieved that he hadn't brushed off her questions.

"When Luke told me I had a partner, I thought it was you. When it wasn't, I knew that I had to take everything I learned from you and use it if I wanted to stay alive," she told him.

With the hand not linked with hers, he brushed his knuckles lightly over her bruised cheek. Her nerve endings were extra sensitive right now, but instead of pain, the touch sent shivers down her spine.

"Sam…" she breathed out. "I…" She swallowed thickly before licking her lips. "I'm sorry I left."

"I'm sorry I pushed you away," he replied without hesitation.

"You're always there when it matters. You found me...If you hadn't found me – " Her voice cracked and she couldn't get any more words out.

"I will _always_ find you."

Andy blinked away tears at his promise, said with such love and sweetness.

Sam stood up and perched himself on the edge of her bed, before slowly inching his face closer to hers. When he was close enough to feel her breath against his skin, he hesitated, giving her time to stop him if she didn't want this.

She felt her heart start pounding in her chest in anticipation. It had been too long since she'd felt his lips on hers and she craved it more than she ever wanted to admit. When Andy closed her eyes, the tension around Sam's heart released and he closed the remaining distance.

He grazed her lips gently, careful to not cause her any pain. It was briefer than either would have liked, but they both knew it was best since she was injured. She rested her hand on Sam's cheek and opened her eyes. "Promise me something?" she whispered against his lips.

"Anything."

"Promise to do this again properly when my lip heals," she said, trying to smile as much as she could without causing pain to her bruised face.

Sam let out a chuckle as pulled back, supporting his weight on his arm pressing into her mattress. "That's an easy promise to keep."

"I must be quite a sight right now," she said, gesturing to her face.

Sam sat on the edge of her bed and let his fingers trace along her hairline from her forehead to her ear, one of the few places she wasn't bruised. "You're still beautiful."

She gave him an incredulous look. "Yeah, my fat lip, and black and blue face must be real sexy."

"It'll heal," he said, knowing the physical bruises would heal quicker than the emotional ones.

Sam turned his head around when they heard a knock on the open door.

"Glad to see you're awake," Traci said, walking into the room. "How are you feeling?"

"I've been better, but the pain meds are doing their job _really_ well," Andy replied.

"We were all worried, Andy," her best friend said as she walked to the side of the bed opposite Sam.

"Thanks, Trace. It's one nightmare I'd like to put behind me," Andy said.

"Well, how about I take your statement and then you can work on forgetting it ever happened," Traci suggested.

Andy nodded. She wasn't looking forward to this, but knew she'd have to retell it at some point. She looked over at Sam when he gave her hand a gentle squeeze.

"I can't be here for this since I haven't given my own statement yet," he told her.

"Detective Callaghan's waiting outside for you," Traci said, looking over at Sam.

"Callaghan?"

"Blackstone hasn't been cleared from any wrongdoing yet, so Callaghan was brought in to help with the investigation," she explained. "He's here to take your statement."

Sam leaned down and placed a kiss on the top of Andy's head before standing up. "I'll be back soon."

"Okay. I'll be...well, it's not like I'm going anywhere," she said. A giggle that escaped quickly turned into a grimace at the pain it caused.

When Sam left, Traci sat down on the edge of the bed and quirked her eyebrows at her friend. "And what was that all about?"

Andy rolled her eyes and knew she'd be blushing if she wasn't covered in bruises. "It's a first step."

Traci gave her an understanding look and decided to get this over with as quickly as possible so Sam could come back in. "Okay, so let's start with this morning, just before your last check-in," Traci prompted.

Andy nodded and began to tell her what happened.

* * *

Outside her room, Sam and Luke sat down in a couple of chairs down the hall. He didn't want to be far from Andy's room and it was a quiet enough place to give his statement.

Luke handed him an extra coffee he'd grabbed from the waiting room for his fellow detective. "Thanks," Sam said before taking a sip.

"Alright, so start from the beginning, when you first collided with this undercover job," Luke prompted.

When he finished giving his statement, Sam watched Luke walk down the hall and his eyes caught sight of Marlo standing there waiting. He didn't know how long she'd been there, but decided now was as good a time as any to have the inevitable conversation. He was staring at the styrofoam cup in his hands when he felt her sit down next to him.

"So...McNally's back," she said.

"Yeah," he replied. He stared into his coffee cup, wishing it wasn't empty so he could wet his suddenly dry throat. "I'm sorry."

She didn't need to hear why he was sorry when she saw it written all over his face. "The way you talked about her, I should've known you still loved her," Marlo said.

Sam didn't try to deny it. It was the truth. He had never stopped loving Andy, even when he tried to tell himself she was better without him. "She knows me better than anyone. And I _want _her to know me better than anyone."

He finally turned to look at Marlo. "I...I never wanted to hurt you."

She patted Sam's knee as she stood up. "We never would have worked out anyway, Sam. I hope she's okay."

Sam stared at her retreating form wondering she meant, while Marlo thought about how her bipolar medication shielded her from truly feeling the full emotion of love. Sam deserved so much more and she hoped Andy could give that to him.

Sam decided to get himself another coffee before returning to Andy's room. When he neared her door, he saw a doctor leave her room.

"Everything okay?" he asked, walking in to find Andy alone.

"Yeah, the doctor was just in to check on me. The doctor says I can't sleep for the next eight hours since there are signs of a concussion," she told him.

"Well, I don't plan on going anywhere, so I'll make sure you stay awake," he said, pulling a chair closer to her bed before sitting in it.

"I know this isn't The Penny, but…" She bit her bottom lip nervously. "Maybe I could take you up on that drink, and we could talk."

When he handed her a cup of water, she saw the dimples she'd missed so much. He rested his hand on her good shoulder, his thumb brushing back and forth soothingly. "I'd like that."

Andy grinned back at him, not caring how much pain the simple move caused. Knowing they were getting their second chance was worth it.

* * *

The End.


End file.
